Getting By
by Pandora-isavamp
Summary: Post Serenity. Loss Love Hurt Healing. How the crew of Serenity gets by and continues after Miranda. My first Firefly fic! River/Jayne Kaylee/Simon Inara/Mal Language Violence Plese R&R.
1. Chapter 1

When those doors opened, and Jayne saw her standing there, atop a mountain of Reaver corpses, splattered in their rank blood, he was awed. Then he grew jealous that so much killing skill was packaged into the delicate girl, and that his merc ass had been scared shitless, and that he would never be able to mow down that many Reavers in a whole lifetime. Then he thought "Gorram, that girl's someat different, and maybe she ain't just a crazy kid."

He was taking a lot more notice of the moon-brained girl than normal. He noticed the way her calves flexed as she walked and danced 'round the ship, he noticed the different degrees of vacancy her eyes expressed, he noticed the way she held her chopsticks at meals. But noticing and interacting with the girl were different things, and what Jayne wanted more than anything was to fight with or learn how to fight from River.

He was liftin', when she walked in. Her head was tilted at that funny angle that meant she was concentrating on some'at important. She sat on a crate, her head still tilted, staring at him as he pushed the bar away from and lowered it back to his chest. Why'd she have ta stare at him like that, made him feel she was lookin at him as a group of numbers, without skin, calculating. Still 'haps he could get her to fight him, they'd have a sparring session whens he'd finished liftin. He fully extended his arms and resettled the bar in it's holder. He sat up.

"Abduction of the triceps brachii, pulls the olecranon process of the ulna, pushing the weighted bar away from Jayne," she said her head now held straight up, "Abduction of the biceps brachii, has the adverse reaction, force pulling on the tuberosity of the radius retracts the bar to Jayne's torso." Jayne gave her a blank look, he'd only understood three words of River's observation. "Muscles," River said sounding somewhat put out, as if she'd expected anyone to understand what an "oh-ley-crayon" was. She stood up and walked over to him, "triceps brachii" she ran a forefinger down the back of his arm.

"Whatchya doin? Oh, ya mean that's what that muscle is called?"

"Ape-man comprehends. Good. Olecranon process," River prodded the point of his elbow, "Biceps brachii" she ran her finger down the thick muscle in the front of his arm and ended in the crook of his elbow.

"So's those muscles what I use ta bench. What 'bout punching?"

"All. Power flows through, from toes to fingers. Main though, biceps, triceps again, deltoid, teres major, serratus anterior, and palmaris longus." Once again her fingers skimmed over his arm as she listed the muscles. When she reached Palmaris longus, she gripped his hand and took a step back forcing him to stand up. "Punch."

"What?"

"Punch, towards me." She took a couple steps back to give him room.

"I don't know girl, I could hurt ya," Jayne hesitated.

"I can hurt you more. Now punch," she commanded. So he did. She caught it in the palm of her hand, stepped back still holding her hand up, "palmar and dorsal interposes, brevis, trans, and obliquus pollicis, abductor, flexor brevis, and opponens minimi digiti," she listed again pointing to each, 'cept her hand was so small looked ta Jayne like she was only moving her finger in a circle round her palm, no definition between the position of each muscle she said. "Kick." His foot came towards her chest but was blocked by her forearm. "Rectus femoris, vastus medialis, vastus lateralis, satorius, anterior tibialis, extensor digitum longus," she took a step back and held up the arm that had blocked his kick, "bones: radius, ulna," she pointed to each side of her forearm. She smiled up at him, a sweet-little-girl-having-fun smile. He smiled back, a merc-having-fun-without-a-gun smile.

"Can we keep goin'?" he asked.

"Keep fighting if you wish to continue instruction," River replied with a nod.

They moved 'round the cargo bay. Jayne throwing powerful punches and jaw-breaking kicks that River blocked and avoided with ease. She danced 'round him throwing her small fists and anatomical names into the air. River jumped onto and over crates, while Jayne grounded himself in the open middle of the bay. River would sweep in close to the ape-man testing him, calculating his reach and speed. Jayne was having trouble just keeping' the girl in his sight, she'd rush up to him then jump out of the way to avoid his hit, and appear on the other side of the room. Even in the oversized boots she wore, River hardly made a sound. He spun to find her again, but too late the girl was behind him jabbing her elbow into the small of his back, "thoracolumbar fascia" he heard her say before she was gone again, disappearing behind the parked mule. Jayne's feet grated against the metal floor of the hull, alerting River to all of him movements. Though, she probably knew what he was gonna do 'fore he did, gorram reader. River moved into his range again, and seeing what he thought was an opening Jayne punched towards River's shoulder, but the reader ducked under it and her fist connected with his side "latissimus dorsi" she spun away as he turned to face her. She moved in close, faster than he'd expected, and swept a foot behind his knees "gastrocnemius" he fell to the bay floor, catching himself on a hand, but River was on him, one knee pinning his shoulder, while the other pinned his opposite hand, and her hand was 'round his throat "sternocleidomastoid, sternohyoid," she said a happy look of triumph on her face.

"'Kay you win girl. Hows bout you let me up?" he asked feeling her hand against his neck as he spoke. She smiled again, the eyes fixed on his were clear, sane-like, she was actually here on the ship with him, instead of half a galaxy away.

"I enjoyed our instruction, it was effective exercise," she said standing up.

"Yeah, me too," Jayne replied pulling himself up off the floor, "You're a better fighter than me girl; an' I'd like ta get good enough ta land a hit, any chance we could do that again? "

"Repetition is an effective teaching method. Thursday at noon, ship noon, no time in the black, here, we will continue mechanical instruction of anatomy," she said giving him one last smile before climbing the stairs up to the kitchen.


	2. Chapter 2

Jayne went back to his bunk. When they'd been sparring he'd barely been able ta see the girl, much less land a hit. He'll never be that fast; he's a big merc of a man, not no gorram ballet dancer. If he's ever gonna be good 'nough ta land a hit, will he have ta be that fast? Cause no way in the verse he could manage that. The girl though, the speed's half what makes her so deadly; ta 'ther half's smarts. She sees everything as numbers; how many, how fast, how long, how powerful? He just swings. Jayne's good at his job but there's no finesse; River makes everything a dance.

He pulls off his sweaty shirt, pulls out his sink and splashes water on his face. He used ta see her as a danger, a liability to his safety. Crazy kid was all she was. He grabs a semi-clean shirt, from the pile he keeps on the foot of his bed 'fore he takes the time ta put it away, and pulls it on. Everything changed after Miranda. They'd seen the weapon, not her skill in a bar fight, a weapon to mow down the boogeymen of the black. And he wanted it. She was like a shiny new rifle, with a sleek design, and core tech scope; a new toy.

But everyone else, since Mr. Universe's, they had a dif'rent reaction to the girl weapon, scared a her. Even her brother; he's 'fraid he'll never fix her, that she'll be the weapon forever. May'haps weapon's part of who she is now. Maybe somewhere along this path girl got fused to the soldier. He'd known plenty of soldiers; heck, Zoe was a soldier, through and through, didn't see the crew runnin from her. So's the girls a bit off, most fighters is anyways. The crew treats her like a time bomb afraid she'll explode and take them with her. But where would they be 'thout her; dead is where. Gotta be grateful fer that at least.

Jayne pushed the sink back into the wall. Starring at his reflection in the tiny mirror he thinks about how things 've changed, and what that means for him. Where did he stand in all this fang pi. His place here is solid. Zoë's grievin' still, she might do someat Jayne-like outa grief, like runnin' out from cover ta chop Reavers, again. 'Nara's stayin' on the ship for now, but her an' Mal still fight over nothin. Kaylee an the Doc have fin'ly got ta sexin. The girl's still crazy, least she's useful; on jobs she reads the situation, an' now she's flyin' the boat at times, good at it too.

Crew aside, they's still got troubles. The operative said Alliance'll still be after the girl, but the 'liance is in shambles, barely holdin' the central planets together. Parliament got mighty unpopular when Mal sent out that broad wave. Meanin' less patrols worrin' over small smuggling boats like Serenity, but there also seemed to be fewer jobs. Fer' now though, they were leavin' for Persephone next day, Harrow had sent a wave sayin he might just have a job for them. Anything to keep protein on the table; speakin' of he's 'possed to help Kaylee in the kitchen tonight. Jayne stop ponderin so hard on the 'verse and ever'thin in it and goes up to the mess.

After the fighting instruction in the hold, River went up to the kitchen. She walked in and stood staring at the cabinet doors.

"Alright, bao bei?" said Inara, who was sitting at the table, a needle and embroidery thread in her lap.

"Evaluating nutritional sources" replied River, who continued to stare at the wooden cabinet doors. Inara keeps her eyes on her work as she pushes the needle into and out of the fabric creating a pattern of dragonflies for Kaylee's new shirt, until she heard the hinge of a cabinet. Inara quickly looked up, but only to see River pull out a protein pack, labeled banana, from the cupboard. Inara continued to watch River from the corner of her eye, she didn't quite trust the girl so close to the knife block. River took down a mug, and opened the silverware drawer. Inara tensed watching River put her hand into the drawer. River's back was to her, Inara heard the clink of metal on the hard counter.

"She hears the tension, she wont hurt you," said River her back still to Inara, her head slightly bowed.

"River?" Inara's voice is full of soft hesitancy, afraid to trigger the girl.

"It's a spoon," River turned, and held up the utensil in question so Inara can see. The girl turned back and proceeded to make her smoothie, leaving a nervous and embarrassed Inara staring at her back, sewing lying forgotten in her lap. River took her glass and walked past Inara to sit on one of the oversized chairs in the living area, where she hunched over the glass as if the mysteries of the 'verse were unraveling in the protein powder. "All scared," the reader said to her glass. Inara looked up at the girl. She looked so small and vulnerable curled up, lost in the cushions and her oversized sweater. Maybe she was vulnerable, but she's also dangerous Inara reminded herself. "Love. She wanted to return it. All exchanges must be accompanied by a receipt. Mother hen, pecking. Protecting," River turned large eyes up to trapped Inara's gaze, "She was protecting those who protected her."

Inara stood up, she hesitated for a moment before making up her mind, and walking over to kneel in front of River. "I know honey, but R…Reavers are the monsters from our nightmares, and…"

"And River's now the monster's monster," whispered the girl.

"Yeah."

Jayne entered the kitchen. River was sittin, staring at a congealing protein drink, so quiet, if he weren't in the habit of scoping every room he walked inta he wouldn't a' seen her. "S'up moony?" he asked gruffly. River looked up with eyes wet and wide.

"It's Ariel," the girl said softly.

"'Nother planet ya needs ta rescue?" Jayne laughed.

"No, it's Ariel again, inverse, negative film. Jayne was the one scared then," she said, shaking her head.

"Hey I ain't scared o' nothing," he pointed at her with the knife he'd just pulled out of the drawer to emphasize this important bit of information about Jayne Cobb. He began to chop onions. Where's in the 'verse Kaylee got to? She had kitchen duty too tonight. Ya just can't leave Jayne in charge of the kitchen; he don't trust hisself not ta light someat on fire

"Scared of getting thrown out of the airlock," River said.

"Well, yeh," Jayne conceded.

"Scared of Reavers," Crazy said, staring at Jayne.

"Well what sane person aint?" the merc half yelled. River got quiet, and curled back into herself at Jayne's words. Ta ma de, there ya go mentionin' sanity and fright a' Reavers to the person who ain't got either, Jayne mentally berated himself. "I'm sorry girl, my mouths no good," he earnestly apologized as he put down the knife and walked over to her.

"Alright. You're not the one scared this time. It's them. And Serenity, she's whispering only. Subspace voices picked up on old rusted receivers. Nothing speaks any more. Afraid. Frightened of the girl monster, monster's monster…." Rivers words faded and Jayne sat down next to her. He kept quiet, musin' on her words. After a minute, he put one of his large hands on top of her head and ruffled her dark hair.

"Ain't nothing' ta worry on, little one. They'll come 'round soon 'nough. Ya saved our hides, an' I'm grateful fer that. Fer now help me with dinner. Make sure I don't poison us all," he said standing up and holding out a hand to her. River gave him a small smile and timidly took his hand.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: I'm so sorry for the long wait on this chapter! I started a new job and school semester since my last post. So thanks for being paitent, hopefully I'll be able to have things up a bit faster from now on but I can't promise anything.

Joss is boss.

/

Morning sunlight slowly colored Serenity gold. The people inside stirred. They'd been living in suspended animation. After the Miranda broad wave, Serenity and the crew had stayed parked, healing their bodies and repairing the ship. Today life started again.

Zoe stared out of Serenity's bay window, her eyes fixed on the dusty bit of moon surface they were leaving; the surface where they were leaving the body of her husband. "Goodbye, my love," she whispered as the ship fought against the gravitational pull of that little moon, and headed into the black.

"Not goodbye," came a soft female voice from the doorway. River's bare feet made no sound as they carried her across the room to Zoe's side. She stood staring out the same window but seeing something completely different than the grieving warrior woman.

"Trails," River said, "they cross. Tapestries, patterns. Threads." River turned eyes that saw things far away to Zoe. "Wash's thread is cut."

"River, honey. I c..can't…" Zoe couldn't continue. River grabbed her hands, her usually distant eyes glinting with purpose and determination.

"But one divided yields a product of two. One is gone but the second remains." River's eyes were intent, as if trying to force Zoe to understand the message behind the ramblings. "Left, but left something behind. He grows." River placed a delicate hand on Zoe's lower stomach, "He's here still."

Zoe stood, eyes wide a tear threatening to spill from one, her full lips half parted as she asked, "How?.. How can you know River?" The tear trailed down her brown cheek.

"She perceives," River whispered, "She knows." River stared out the bay window into the black and swirl of galaxies, holding Zoe's hand while the proud warrior women melted, tears of grief and joy washing down her face.

River hummed as she walked back to the cockpit. She sat down in the co-pilots chair, folding her legs underneath her.

"You disappeared might' quick, little Albatross," Mal said, looking over from the controls he'd had to grab to keep them flying straight when the girl'd run out.

"Urgent matter needed attending to. The matter has been resolved," replied River, who was flipping through flight screens and patterns, on the console.

"Might wanna let me know, next time."

"Affirmative." River giggled.

"I know you ain't laughin at me," Mal said, but without any real feeling behind it.

"Affirmative. Amusement was directed at Mr. Washburne, and his fascination with extinct terrestrial vertebrates. He appears to have designated specific flight paths as stegosaurus, jinfengoperyx, etcetera."

The Journey to Persephone would take several days. During that time, most of the crew sought distractions, and applied themselves with an enthusiasm and attention to detail, never before seen on Serenity, to their chores. The recycled air was tense, but working seemed to ease the worries each crew member carried.

The ship was organized and cleaned from the tip of the cockpit to the end of the firefly drive. Kaylee rewired and repaired the engine room so that it looked like it had never encountered crazy space monkeys. Simon scoured and labeled every tool and surface in the infirmary. Jayne was prompt disposing the garbage and didn't even complain when he drew septic vac duty. Inara took up residence in the kitchen going through every cabinet and drawer, washing dishes, and organizing utensils. Mal cleaned out the cockpit, with occasional help from River, and in total they found eleven plastic dinosaurs; two fell out of an overhead hatch, a tyrannosaurus was found tangled in the wires of the drive feeds, and one stegosaurus, tragically, melted its tail while hiding in the auxiliary life support cables during a circuit explosion.

Three days is a long time in the black to some and not enough to others. Serenity's crew started falling into a new pattern of life during the three days it took to reach Persephone, but those three days were not enough for them to adjust to it.

Zoe sat contemplating the life that had ended and began considering the one starting within her. Mal and Inara were working on their relationship, but it was Mal and Inara, happily ever after was gonna take a while. Jayne cared for his weapons, disassembling and oiling them. Kaylee and Simon took every second alone they could to explore their new sexual relationship. And River she danced.

Thursday approached, and with it Jayne's second anatomy lesson.

Jayne was waiting in the hold before the ships clock had even struck eleven. In order to distract himself he did some pull ups but it only took him twelve minutes to do a hundred. He followed that up with push ups and bench presses. It was 11:23 when he set down his weight bar.

"Apeman is anxious," River peaked her head over the railing above Jayne, her hair hanging down in dark waves. She moved down the stairs her hand trailing on the rail, while her skirt trailed on the stairs. "Commencing our lesson prior to the scheduled time would be advantageous," she said stopping a few feet short of Jayne and staring unblinkingly up into his face, "Both parties are present and there are two hundred and six bones in the mature human body for Jayne to learn."

River moved. Her tiny fist flew towards Jayne's face; he was fast enough to avoid it, but that forced him to take a step back, making him fall over his weight bench. River was on the other side of the bench before he hit the ground, she cradled the back of his skull in her small hands, "Occipital bone." She smiled down at him and disappeared from view.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Joss is boss!

/

After his second lesson with River, Jayne returned to his bunk beat, but happy. He'd been able to make contact with River, not land a solid hit, but at least graze her, which meant he was gettin' faster and adjustin' ta her fightin style. He remembered the look of slight surprise on her face the first time he'd grazed her shoulder blade, she'd drawn back and given him a small smile before whispering 'scapula.' The memory quirked his own mouth into a smile which he buried into a towel. Jayne dried off the rest of his face, ruffling his hair. Peeling off his sweaty shirt and kicking off his boots Jayne walked over to the ladder leading out of his bunk, hit the lock combo, hearing the hatch latch with a satisfyin' thunk. He pulled his knife and gun from his belt, yanked back the curtain covering his arsenal and carefully restored the weapons to their places before letting the curtain fall back and himself settle back on his bed.

He let his muscles relax feeling the excess tension and remaining adrenalin from his fight with River drain away. His lids grew heavy. The sounds from the rest of the ship were muffled against his locked bunk. His breath evened out.

He was in a dark metal hall, creeping along it all he found were more dark empty halls, but he knew there was something in the dark. His back was to the wall, Vera in his hands. Sounds of fighting rang off the metal walls carrying down the hall to him. He moved along the wall, huge feet carrying him with the quiet skill of a tracker. The sounds of combat grew louder. His back pressed against the cold metal corner he knew would be the last before he reached the fighting, Jayne took a breath, gripped Vera, and jumped into the fray.

The fray was not what he was expecting. There were less thugs rushin' him, and more Reavers snarlin' at a figure in the middle of the room, blood soaked and movin' so fast they were a blur. Blades flashed through the air releasing more spurts and fountains of blood. Bodies fell to the ground. Jayne were starin' at the fight like a gorram tourist, amazed at the whirl of the fighter in the middle of the room. Time stilled for a sec, rich brown eyes locked onto his. River gave him that small smile a' hers, blood splattered on her face and her hair whirlin' 'round her.

Reavers rushed her and time resumed a pace faster than Jayne thought possible. River slashed and cut, dove, jumped, and danced. A Reaver took notice of Jayne, and with a jolt back to the reality of the dream Jayne was fighting too. Vera's blast knocked the body of the first Reaver back with a hole through it's chest, she did the same to the second and third, but Jayne knocked the fourth Reaver to the floor with a powerful roundhouse kick ta the head. He and Vera cut a path through the endless stream of Reavers, 'til he reached River and they faced the enemy back to back, moving and delivering deadly blows as one killing machine. Jayne reveled in the feel of his finger on Vera's trigger, the crunch of breaking bones, the rain of blood, and the feel of River, causin' as much damage as he was, beside him.

They moved in tandem, the merc-man and weapon-girl. River gripped his left shoulder, using the arm not supporting Vera to take some of her weight so that her next kick was wider taking more Reavers down. River rolled across Jayne's back, landing in front of a new opponent who she dispatched with one blow, while Jayne felled five more with a wave of blast from Vera. Jayne grabbed River's hand, pulling her outta the way 'a his next shot. Arterial spray flecked their skin. River's hair was wet with Reaver blood, it made her chocolate colored hair black, like her eyes right now, heavy with fight and bloodlust.

In dreams time bends. As Jayne stared at the River in his dream, time slowed, so that the Reavers didn't matter, and all that did was standin' lookin' up at him with dark eyes. His hand slid through her damp hair and over her blood slick cheek. River's mouth was mashed against his, her teeth bitin' inta his lip, drawing blood, which mingled with that of their foes still dripping off their chins. Jayne devoured her and the sweet coppery taste of his own blood. The fight resumed around them, and they spun 'round the room dispatching Reavers like they was jugglin' geese. Jayne never lost contact with River, some part of her was always touchin' him, tantalizing brushes of skirt and the feel of a bloody path across his arm left by trailing fingers.

Jayne blew a Reavers head to bits, only to find it was the last one moving, the rest of the Reavers were lifeless heaps on the floor. But he was still moving. River still whorled, dancing in a parody of the killing dance she'd just finished, she moved against and around Jayne dragging him into the movement. She was pressed against him again. Her little mouth workin' on his, her nails diggin inta the back of his shirt. He licked down her neck, tasting sweet blood which turned to salty sweat on his tongue. Skin slid on blood, slid on skin. They weren't in that metal room of corpses any more, 'cause where weren't the why of it. They were the center the sun of Jayne's dream solar system. They moved together, and River she were beauty and death all tagether.

Jayne woke. His heart near beating outta his chest, and he felt his blood pulsing through every inch of his body with want. He lay there on his bunk thinking on the girl gone done inspired the burn under his skin, and came to the only conclusion he could,…

"Fuck! Ima gonna get spaced."


End file.
